JAPONICA PARTNERS, Founder & Managing Director

Paul B. Kazarian is the Founder and Managing Director of Japonica Partners. Japonica Partners is an entrepreneurial co-investment firm that makes concentrated investments in underperforming global large caps, providing entrepreneurial returns for accomplished money managers who succeed with top quartile performance.

Japonica Partners has overseen the creation of approximately $2.0 billion in shareholder wealth. A long-time industry innovator, Japonica has achieved entrepreneurial returns without relying on excessive financial leverage.

Japonica’s largest co-investors include accomplished hedge fund and mutual fund managers who individually had over $500 million with Japonica.

From 1990 to 1993, Mr. Kazarian was Chairman and CEO of Sunbeam-Oster during its rejuvenation from Allegheny International. Prior to founding Japonica in 1987, Mr. Kazarian was an Investment Banker at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where his clients included a score of global Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 multi-nationals, a diverse selection of emerging growth companies, as well as government and quasi-government organizations.

He has established two non-profit foundations whose charitable missions include healthcare, education, and technology. He co-chaired the 2004 Asia Society Annual Dinner, “The China Connection.”

Mr. Kazarian received his MBA from Columbia University, his MA from Brown University, and his undergraduate degree from Bates College.

JAPONICA PARTNERS: Profile

Japonica Partners is an entrepreneurial co-investment firm that makes concentrated investments in underperforming global large caps, providing entrepreneurial returns for accomplished money managers who succeed with top quartile performance.

Japonica Partners has overseen the creation of approximately $2.0 billion in shareholder wealth since our founding in 1987. A long-time industry innovator, Japonica has achieved entrepreneurial returns without relying on excessive financial leverage. Japonica’s largest co-investors include accomplished hedge fund and mutual fund managers who individually had over $500 million with Japonica.

Discovering Value Gaps where others have walked away is one of Japonica’s three core competencies. Our teams discover – through years of research and analysis – sizable ROIC and operating improvement opportunities. Japonica sees a global “thrive or die” target rich environment of underperforming global large caps with very large “Value Gaps”.

Changing Cultures & Operations is Japonica’s special core competency, creating value through changing both internal cultures as well as external expectations. Changing cultures offers the greatest challenge and opportunity to close “Value Gaps”. With Japonica’s global “Five Keys to Success”, our teams demonstrate and set new standards in operations performance.

Creating Value through hands-on management is Japonica’s third core competency. Japonica core management teams assume key corporate and operating positions in control investments to create value and manage the unexpected.

Providing entrepreneurial returns for accomplished money managers who succeed with top quartile performance requires all three of Japonica’s core competencies and our entrepreneurial co-investor business model. Japonica’s entrepreneurial co-investor business model economics work to perfectly align Japonica’s team members with our co-investors.

Integral to Japonica’s success is our patent-pending Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate alternatives selected by co-investors. Co-investors receive 100% cash return on investment and hurdle prior to profit participation, and there are no annual management fee or advisory fees. Our team members who assume positions with a control investment forego industry standard incentive compensation.

Japonica Partners has been independently verified as GIPS® compliant since its inception in 1987.

THE CHARLES & AGNES KAZARIAN ETERNAL FOUNDATION

The Charles & Agnes Kazarian Eternal ("CAKE") Foundation is a private operating foundation created in 1993 by Paul B. Kazarian, Founder and Managing Director of Japonica Partners. Its mission is guided by the capitalist-philanthropist principles contained in New Philanthropy Benchmarking: Wisdom for the Passionate. The foundation has 87 professionals world-wide with 27 FTEs.

The Charles & Agnes Kazarian Foundation has agreed to be a founding
member and supporting organization of a "new" Pawtucket Culinary
Arts Initiative.

The mission of the Initiative is to enable Pawtucket to become a
creative center for vegan, vegetarian, and macrobiotic culinary arts.

According to a release, the co-chairs are Paul Kazarian, formerly of
Japonica Street, and current Pawtucket resident Richard Kazarian. Paul
Kazarian previously worked with Richard Kazarian's father, Richard
"Dick" Kazarian, on the Model Cities Program in Pawtucket during the
1960s and 1970s. Interviews are currently underway for other high
value-add Initiative board members with a global perspective.

Paul Kazarian, Ambassador for the Charles & Agnes Kazarian Foundation,
said "Much like my parents who immigrated to Pawtucket from Armenia
in 1921, a creative culinary arts center will capture the pioneering
spirit of the city."

Richard Kazarian said "Pawtucket is an ideal location for healthy
culinary arts, as the City already has several similar creative
initiatives, including Hope Artiste Village, Pawtucket Arts Festival,
Slater Mill and Wintertime Farmers Markets, the Gamm Theater, and
Foundry Artists Show."

The Initiative envisions the building blocks to include approximately
a dozen vegan, vegetarian, and macrobiotic restaurants; culinary
classes and educational facilities; health food grocery stores, as
well as compatible retail stores. The Initiative will also support
daily on-site musical and theatrical events. Initiative co-chairs
are currently assessing several best-fit locations.

The City of Pawtucket, one of Rhode Island's largest cities, is known
as a center for arts and culture. Even the New York Times has taken
note of this hidden gem-calling it an "Artistic Enclave"- and has
commended the city's efforts to attract artists. The 2008 documentary
Pawtucket Rising also chronicled the influx of artists and cultural
activities into what were previously blighted areas of the city.

The Charles & Agnes Kazarian Foundation is a private operating
foundation established in 1998.